Would you get the band if you had a chance have a "do over"

[bayareanan 24]

I started the journey at 340 in October. Here I am almost 1 yr out and I have only lost 40lbs.

I eat between 800-1000 cal and walk 1.5 miles 5 days a week.

I expected much more. I think I will give it another year and if I still haven't made progress have bypass.

I am bipolar and take some weight unfriendly meds. Not sure how much that plays into it.

[Jadebrasil 0]

No, I would not. I just had the surgery done (3 weeks ago) and I'm kicking myself for not researching it well before. I wish I had found this website and obesity.com before lapband. After visiting obedityhelp I've become very discouraged;( so many failure stories... So far I have lost 20 pounds but it was all due to my work and pure dieting... The band is not giving me any restriction. I hope after my first fill I can feel the band and work with it... If I could go back I would research DS better or sleeve. I have read your post on obesityhelp.com and Must say I cannot stand some of the women there! They are so fu&$@" negative!! Bitter and angry!

[K1SM3T 1]

My doctors advised me not to follow the stories on people who don't like their bands because it discourages you. And because we don't know the entire story regarding why they had issues with their band. I met one woman and she kept complaining how she never lost any weight and then when I asked her why, she said oh she couldn't get anything down except ice cream. I asked her why she didn't try yogurt, or cottage cheese, or Jello, or other alternatives, and she just ignored me. So you don't know the real reason, and most ppl think that the weight is going to fall right off that they don't have to do anything. It's not true. No one should discourage you, you do this for yourself!

[pickles123 0]

My doctors advised me not to follow the stories on people who don't like their bands because it discourages you. And because we don't know the entire story regarding why they had issues with their band. I met one woman and she kept complaining how she never lost any weight and then when I asked her why, she said oh she couldn't get anything down except ice cream. I asked her why she didn't try yogurt, or cottage cheese, or Jello, or other alternatives, and she just ignored me. So you don't know the real reason, and most ppl think that the weight is going to fall right off that they don't have to do anything. It's not true. No one should discourage you, you do this for yourself!

[pickles123 0]

No offense; but, would you expect your doctor to say anything negative against the band.

If you think eating Jello, cottage cheese, yogurt etc would cure what is the problem with her band you have not done near enough research.

You need to do a lot more research before you get the band if you think that is the problem. You are not getting how the band works at all.

[Texasbandit 8]

I'm new but if anyone is complaining that all they can eat is ice cream and wonder y they haven't lost weight then I don't think research is needed to answer what her problem is. If you can eat ice cream and then make excuses as to y you can't eat other soft food alternatives then the problem was with in her.

I've only know one other person with a lapband and she was a co worker s few years ago. It failed for her cause she overate all the time. I had no clue about lapband so I didn't say anything but knowing what I know now I can see y she failed. She didn't want to workout and she ate fast food all the time. It was smaller portions, but still same food. She didn't follow up with her surgeon either. She said she was embarrassed.

[Duckieduck 0]

Not by Dr Spivak in Houston TX. I had a lapband put in by this doctor and was having so many problems with it. Everytime I went to the office they kept tellinbg me it was me. Even the slightest fill I would not be able to swallow by saliva. Dr Spivak removed the fill and never suggested that there may be a problem. His main concern was if it was time for me to start paying for my $100 visits. He started asking me that 4 months after the surgery not 1 year aftger the surgery. I ended up with a hernia and chronic avid reflux. I had another doctor remove the lapbaqnd. He aid the lapband was way to small and they do not use this lapband anymore due to the problems with the lapband. Would I do it again? Maybe .....but not by DR Spivak.,

[pickles123 0]

You are not suppose to eat soft foods with the lap band. You are suppose to eat regular food!!

[vickyd 24]

I would do it over again in a second. Never before in my life have I been able to lose more than 30 lbs...right now, 9 months post-op I've lost 106 lbs and like Dave said I have self control for the first time in my life.

In my opinion, too many people go into this surgery thinking that the band will do all of the work and the weight will just fall off. Then they get frustrated that they have to do a lot if the work themselves (especially at the beginning before they get restriction).

If you have realistic expectations and are willing to do the work then you are much more likely to have a good result.

[brbm6 6]

I agree with Vicky and Dave. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I think a lot of people get frustrated because their bands are too tight or they do not want to use their will power to get them to their goal.

The band does not do the work for you. You have to work with it.

But, I have self control for the first time. food no longer has power over me. But, I do not keep my band so tight that I can not eat certain foods. I have to log calories and excersise regularly. It is not a magic fix.

But I would definatly do it again.

[MollyRN 28]

I am with Vicky - this is not a guarantee, but what it is is "IF I WORK, I GET RESULTS", which was not my experience without the band. I could work at it for weeks and not really get rewarded. The band is work with solid payback

[Texasbandit 8]

Thank god I've never been to other sites but then again I'm not influenced by others. There is no way I would get anything snipped in my intestines or stomach in order to lose weight. Plus I want to have another baby. I needed something reversible, that's y I got lap band.

I agree that some people have other food issues than just portions. They have food addictions or emotional eating. I cant imagine trying to battle those demons and lose weight.

[Duckieduck 0]

I had my lapband for 3 years ...all i lost was 25 lbs, a large hernia and acid reflux. Because of lack of interest from my doctor, 90% of the time all I had was soft foods or liquids like Soups. I was led to believe from my doctor and his staff that it was me. When I realized it was not just me, I had started throwing up even though I would eat soft foods and why go back to my doctor just to hear it was my fault. So I remained that way for over a year before I decided to have it removed, The first thing the doctor told me after the surgery is that he gets so many patients from this doctor because of the lack of interest Dr Spivak has for his patience after he inserts the lapband. I had my one time to have this done with all the money I had. I don't have that anymore to have it done correctly. Dr. Spivak has my money and I will just have to find some other way to loose my weight. The only reason I am posting this is to prevent someone else from using this doctor. Use someone else in the Houston area, please!

[saraannie 7]

I MADE the right decision. I know I did. April 2010, I went to the MD for a refill my hypertension meds, begrudgingly got on the scale, I nearly passed out when it said 246....What? that can't be right? 246 pounds....gulp. I hate diets, nothing keeps me accountable, I would lose 20-25lbs, get bored, cheat, then throw my hands up. I did a ton of research, did not tell a sole until decided what I was going to do. I looked up surgeons and signed up for a seminar. Turned in my paperwork, and waited for approval. On Jan 20, 2010 my life had changed, I went under the knife.....gulp again.

Now don't get me wrong, is this easy? HELL NO! I have had moments of What did I do to myself?, Man I want a Big Mac, fries and a shake. But I work through the craving, split dinners with friends and family when I eat out. So far I have lost 47lbs and a total of 37.2 inches....HELL YEAH!

I choose a bariatric practice that is one stop shopping. I have a fitness coach, a nutritionist, a social worker. I have had my metabolic rate check and they figured out how many cals/day I need, based on my metabolism/activity. Once I heard that I could eat up 1800/day (Oddly enough, I have a very high metabolism and work retail) I was like, I can do this. I read that most people ate 800/1000 cals/day. No way could i have the willpower to do that. My weight loss has been slow, but STEADY, Have not backslid at all. I do make better decisions with my food, but pretty much eat what I want (as long is it goes down)

My advice to you is do your research, make sure you have a great support system (medical and personal). Best of luck to you.

PS ....I love my band!!!

[CurvyCat 0]

I used to be one of those people who would say exactly that kind of thing to someone struggling with the band.

But you know what? After eating healthy mushies for the better part of year (cottage cheese, yogurt, etc) because solids won't go down, I have to say that it's a REALLY depressing boat to be in. You're hungry because those soft foods don't offer any satiety, you end up eating more than you should, and you don't lose a damn thing. So eventually you just end up saying what the heck, and eating things you shouldn't too.... like ice cream.

I've only recently re-motivated and am just living with the being hungry thing. Which is what I was trying to NOT have by having the band. I can't eat the healthy things I should be eating without fear of pain. I'm sick to death of the few mushy Protein sources available. So I'm trying to work with it, but it's so much harder WITH the band than without it. For me. I'll do it, I'm stubborn like that, but I certainly don't assume anymore that every story of band failure is a failure on the part of the banded person to use their "tool" correctly.

It is a great tool for MANY people, but for some folks it just isn't the cat's meow, and it is a real downer to realize that this major undertaking was so unsuccessful.

I think for those of us in this position that do manage to take off the weight despite the band's limitations for us, the band has the possibility to be a good tool for MAINTAINING. But man, the struggle to lose when you can't eat what you should is REALLY hard.

My doctors advised me not to follow the stories on people who don't like their bands because it discourages you. And because we don't know the entire story regarding why they had issues with their band. I met one woman and she kept complaining how she never lost any weight and then when I asked her why, she said oh she couldn't get anything down except ice cream. I asked her why she didn't try yogurt, or cottage cheese, or Jello, or other alternatives, and she just ignored me. So you don't know the real reason, and most ppl think that the weight is going to fall right off that they don't have to do anything. It's not true. No one should discourage you, you do this for yourself!